No more diapers!

2 weeks ago on a Wednesday, Léna just said "I'm going peepee in the toilet". And that was that.

We had this little chart that came free with diapers in the US last summer. Léna went from 0 to 60 in 1 second. There was no middle-ground or accidents or anything. Just like that, snap your fingers, she decided to use the toilet (not even a little potty - I mean the real deal) all day long, for everything.
At first I thought I'd need to reinforce the good behavoir with stickers - I soon blew thru my stickers! (hey mom do you recognize those? You gave them to me, they were on rolls...)

Meanwhile, we went to a housewarming with friends last Sunday. Here is Basile, Eliott's little 3-month old brother, with Rose, who is Flora's 5-wk old sister.


There was some costume fun - Flora, Eva, Estelle & Celestin.
Another day, I found Estelle playing "teacher/school".
These 2 are good friends. Mostly.


Saturday Thomas made us a marble cake- yummy. Even tho he forget the baking powder.
Wednesday afternoon, Léna took her nap, I layed down on the couch, Estelle played quietly, then came to lay down with me, and fell asleep. I got up, Léna woke up, and calmly stood guard over Estelle until she woke up.

Here's Estelle & Léna Skyping with cousin Heather in America.

So much fun to have together on Wednesdays when there's no school.
Monday night - whoops! Out came Estelle's tooth!
Well guess that's all for now. I'm in a lung relapse that I'd rather just not get into for lack of energy but people are watching so hopefully and almost certainly it's not all going to spiral like before.
It's cold as can be over here! Below freezing. Quite unusual. Not helping the lung issue but we've seen cars with snow on the roofs which is shocking around here. Tuesdays they cancelled school at lunchtime and Thomas was let out - all we had in Nice was rain but all around was snow.

Peanut Butter Cookies

There really is nothing quite like them. We made some this evening with Louise. Thomas is away (almost) overnight for hockey, and Marie took Estelle to the pool with Eva, so I had the younger L & L brigade. Nothing like two 2 and 3/4 yr olds to keep you on your toes.
I'm quite sure Louise has never tasted peanut butter in her life. She was VERY skeptical. Until she tasted the batter.
Meanwhile, I got a diagrammed explanation from Estelle about the Treble Clef, Bass Clef, and all the names of the notes in an octave in French, and, I had a quarter, half, 3/4 time and whole note broken down for me this afternoon. Pretty sure Mrs. Gallagher wasn't teaching me THAT when I was 7 and taking piano in Pinehurst Acres.
And in between batches, here's what was happening....
Terrible light quality on this video, sorry. Soon, soon, the new camera. I promise.
Basically, Lena keeps repeating "Put down your Barbies. Give me your hand!"
And Louise says "Naw, I don't feel like it."

Christmas in Angers

A few photos of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Below - Saturday, Dec 24th - Thomas and I awake to a beautiful sunny day - albeit chillier than Nice. We had arrived the evening before by train. I was on Day 3 of a treatment for my sinuses which had provoked bad coughing and I was finally starting to feel better. It was a great day!


We visited with neighbors Sebastien Rigollet - that is his son Adrien below.
Agnes arrived that morning from Paris - Estelle kept her busy!
That afternoon we went for a walk with Adrien and his parents and saw some people out in a festive mood.

Christmas morning - you've already seen some photos - here's the rest of the batch:Estelle's new game!
After a delicious "chapon" lunch, the Saulnier family arrived and you can see many photos of all the fun we had:

Playing cards! Thomas is wearing a green bowtie that was a "party favor" from Claudine and Roland's 40th wedding anniversary party - she made them all!
Getting ready to attach the Buche: left to right, Arnaud, Agnes, Roland, Andrée, Guy, Claudine, Thomas, Virginie.
Claudine helps Estelle with her peas... Estelle is wearing the women's party favor leftover from that 40th anniv party.... so cute!
I learned like 4 new card games in about 5 minutes that night.
Look at this photo below and then genuflect, seriously. Every time I see the picture I feel the need to worship. No, really. The best buche I have ever, EVER eaten. I'm almost sad because how in the world can he ever repeat it? No pressure, Guy.
There's Virginie, fresh in from Wisconsin!
So much to play with, so little time:
To the left of Thomas you see Dorothée, who is a pediatric nurse and arrived after her shift on Christmas day.
Lucky girls, more gifts!
Nothing but fun, all day long....
Next up, what we did the other 4 days in Angers.......!

"Fait voir"

= "Let me see". Here's just some silly Saturday afternoon fun. You hear Léna say "fait voir" about 9 times.
This video quality is pretty borderline. soon, soon, the new camera.

It's Saturday night. Girls are asleep after what was a busy day for Estelle.
Playing, theatre, trampoline, merry-go-round, pool.
Meanwhile, I'm playing run-for-you-life catchup with my work that I neglected for 6 weeks. How will I ever make a dent? Little my little I guess.
For Christmas, Santa brought "trotinnette" to both girls here in Nice - kick scooters.


No junky ones either - top of the line "Micro" scooters. Estelle's is even tricked out with customized pink handles and front wheel.
They are whizzes, both of them, and trying to keep up with them on the streets of Nice might just put me back in the hospital - ha ha!

Christmas Eve, Christmas morning

There's a lot to do on Christmas Eve. But the most important thing is to make the Buche de Noel with Papy. He is a PRO. Seriously.
The best buche I have ever eaten in my life. I don't know how he can ever top it.
Léna is sure that is she leaves more shoes, she'll get more presents.
Estelle was much more excited about leaving the food and drawing for Santa than leaving her shoes.
Christmas morning, at 8 a.m., the whole house was still asleep. I tiptoed down the hallway to the bathroom and found Estelle lying in her bed, awake, but silent. She saw me and said "Mommy, do you think Santa came?" I replied "I don't know". She said, "let's go see if he ate his apple." When she came out and saw that Santa had enjoyed his snack, this was her reaction. She didn't even give the gifts a 2nd glance. Totally not interested. I honestly think she forgot!
The note Santa left behind - so authentic. Even singed around the edges. It says "Thank you for this little meal. I am leaving full of energy to deliver for the other children. Father Christmas".
I've cited this in previous blogs, but notice the shoes. This is the French tradition - you place your shoes near the fireplace, and gifts are placed around them.

Then Thing#2 woke up and came downstairs, and things started to get a little more lively. Wow! Look at all this loot!
Magnetic map puzzle. Too cool.
Place baby Jesus in the creche, which is only done on Christmas morning.
There he is! Christ is born!
Meanwhile, this assembly line worker is looking all tired out. Too many Playdough Mr. Potato Heads rolling out of this shift.
Well that's all the energy this lung-chic has for this evening. Hope to show some other fun photos of all the people we saw during our holiday season.